De-Stress This Holiday Season With A New Book From JCPL!

It’s almost Christmas, and my to-do list is growing like Pinocchio’s nose.

To make things worse, as I scrolled through the Internet to find out what’s going on in the world in the month of December, I discovered that, according to Urban Legend and the Mayan calendar, we should consider celebrating the holiday a little early, because the Universe is getting ready for a major transition.

A 3 day blackout or maybe even the end of the world as we know it is sure to ruin the holiday season if it’s on schedule. As if getting ready for the holiday with all of the baking (most people do; not me) and shopping we all have to do before December 25 is not stressful enough, now it’s being moved up, at least to the 22nd, if we want to enjoy it. Thinking of all that I have to do is giving me anxiety-plus, so it’s time to take a break from it all by checking out a new book from the Jasper County Public Library. Here are some new fiction titles that will bring relief!

The perfect, idyllic life Emma lives behind her perfect, picket fence turns out to be just a grand illusion when her suburban postcard life is brutally cut short by a her perfect husband, who turns out to be a killer. In the shocking aftermath, Emma’s three best friends, devastated by the tragic turn of events, must come to terms with the truth, and their own secrets in “More Like Her” by Liza Palmer.

In “Tidewater Inn” by Colleen Coble, Libby feels her dreams have come true when she inherits an old inn on the Outer Banks and discovers family that she never knew she had. Even restoring the old building is a dream come true for her, until she realizes that the upkeep of the place is more than she can afford and the newly discovered family that she has also inherited think the worst of her and believe that she’s out to steal their birthright. To make things worse for Libby, her best friend is kidnapped right before her eyes, and Libby is implicated in the crime. Will she be able to prove her innocence or will she lose all hope and everything she’s worked so hard for?

After surviving a private tragedy, Maya turns to the peaceful foothills of the Himalaya to make a new life for herself. Beginning again and learning the rhythms of the little village where people coexist with nature, Maya soon finds that no refuge is remote enough to keep out the modern world, and as power hungry politicians threaten the mountains that she’s grown to love, Maya begins to push back protectively in “The Folded Earth” by Anuradha Roy.

It’s the worst winter on record; rare blizzards are making life tough, yet the Hamptons are heating up with a murder mystery that leads criminal defense attorney, Jackie Swaitkowski right back into her late husband’s extended and famously outrageous family. Crazy weather, crazy family and organized crime rule in “Ice Cap: A Mystery” by Chris Knopf.

Christmas is coming; I have lots to do, and if the Mayans or Urban Legend are right, I have even less time to fit it all in than I thought. This gives me anxiety. The best cure for anxiety is escape, so I think I’ll escape to the Hamptons and meet Jackie Swaitkowski, the Himalayas to see how things turn out for Maya, the suburbs to discover the secrets kept by Emma’s friends, and the Outer Banks to clear Libby of kidnapping charges; but before all these trips can take place, I have to first visit my local branch of JCPL, to check out these great new titles, my tickets to adventure!